By Ferd. J. Sitdow, Poughkeepsie, N. Y 37 



Notes From Another Pheasant Fancier 



Gorgeous plumage of many hues to delight the eye, high prices to fatten the purse, 

 choice dainties for the table. These are three of the concomitants of pheasant farming. 



Few persons in the United States have discovered or taken advantage of the opportuni- 

 ties for enjoyment and profit afforded by breeding the little multi-colored game bird that 

 originated in the wooded dells of China. Nevertheless, there are more dollars to be acquired 

 from a pheasant farm than from probably 99 percent of the so-called gold mines. There is 

 more money in pheasants than in chickens and that at the expenditure of far less labor and care. 



A MORNING PARADE OF SETTING HENS OUT FOR AN AIRING. 



Chickens sell for 25 to 50 cents apiece, pheasants for $5 to $25 a pair. Is not that suffi- 

 cient to attract the hustling, progressive American to a new industry? If more be needed, 

 let him consider how beautiful is the pheasant, how the epicure rakes the markets with a 

 fine tooth comb till he finds its toothsome flesh, how the sportsman thrills with pleasure as he 

 harries woodland or meadow, gun in hand, for a shot at this most timid creature. 



Long the game bird of England, where it is hunted and bagged as the choicest sport of 

 royalty, the pheasant is destined to take the place of the prairie chicken, the quail and the 

 partridge all of which are fast becoming extinct in the game preserves of America. How 

 soon ? That is a question any man, woman, boy or girl may help answer. And in working 

 out the problem everyone who participates intelligently may enjoy both pleasure and profit 

 from the successive steps of the solution. 



Broadly speaking, there are two classes of pheasants, one suited for the aviary and known 

 as "fancy" breeds, and the other adapted to wild life on the game preserve. Of the latter, 

 the English and Chinese ringnecked are perhaps the only varieties worthy of consideration 

 by Americans. Of the former there are numerous kinds and the rarer the variety, other 

 things being equal, the greater the profit in raising them. For such birds there is a practical- 

 ly unlimited market, commissioners of public parks in cities and the aviaries of the wealthy, 

 who maintain summer homes and fancy farms, being constantly in need of handsome show 

 or breeding birds. 



Never catch a pheasant by one leg as you would a chicken. Their legs are easily brok- 

 en. The best way is to have a crotched stick, similar to the boys' slingshot prongs, only 

 larger. Stretch string netting between the forks and lower this on the bird pressing it firmly 

 to the ground. Then catch it with a hand on each side pressing the wings 



